Selective switch



Nov. 19,1940. E. G. HENRY SELECTIVE SWITCH Filed Aug. 26, 1939 Patented Nov. 19, g

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE SELECTIVE SWITCH Earle G. Henry, Chicago, 111., assignor to Buckley Music System, Inc., a corporation of Illinois Application August 26, 1939, Serial No. 292,098

Claims. (01. 2il011) It is common practice to provide selective conenable a person depositing a coin to move the trol for musical instruments as, for example, a selective switch arm rapidly and thus produce phonograph apparatus adapted to contain a a wiping action over two or more stationary conconsiderable number of records. Where remote tacts while the coin-controlled switch remains 5 control is employed, the master controller is closed; for, the selective switch will close only usually in the form of a selective switch, having in that position reached by the moving arm as many positions as there are records to be just before the coin-controlled switch opens. played and each position corresponding to a Thus, any positions passed through, during the given record. When payment must be made for movement of the switch arm, might as well not the playing of a record, it is customary to assohave been there, so far as any playing of records 10 ciate with the selective controller a suitable-coincorresponding to those positions is concerned. controlled switch or the like in the circuit con- The various features of novelty whereby my taining the selective switch. Thus, whenever invention is characterized will hereinafter be the selective switch is in any one of its working pointed out with particularity in the claims; but,

positions and the coin-controlled switch is closed, for a full understanding of my invention and ll"; the mechanism of the playing machine or appaof its objects and advantages, reference may be ratus is set to play the record corresponding to had to the following detailed description taken that position of the selective switch, either immein connection with the accompanying drawing, diately or in its proper order. Usually, the solewherein:

an noids or the like that are controlled by the selec- Figure l is a central vertical section through at tive switch need to be energized for only an ina selective switch embodying the present invenstant in order to accomplish their purpose. tion, the switch being shown in the actual posi- Therefore, if the movable member of the selection which it occupies in an actual wall box; tive switch be operated very rapidly after a coin Fig. 2 is a rear view of the switch, namely a View has been deposited, it may pass into and through of that side which is at the right in Fig. l; and 25 more than one position before the coin-con- Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 1, showing the trolled switch opens; thereby setting the playswitch open, or it may besaid to be a section ing machine or apparatus so that it will play on line 3-3 of Fig. 2 while the swinging switch more than one record instead or" a single record arm is in the position shovm in dotted lines in for which payment has been made, and thereby Fig. 2. 3 defrauding the owner of the playing machine or Referring to the drawing, 1 is a disk of insuapparatus. lating material provided with a series or" con- The object of the present invention is to protact pieces 2 arranged in spaced relation in a duce a simple and novel selective switch which circle having its center coinciding with the center will make it impossible to cause the playing of of the disk. The contact pieces may conven- 35 more records than the number for which the iently be in the form of rivets whose rounded proper number of coins have been deposited. heads serve as the actual contacts and to the Or, viewed in another of its aspects, the present ends of whose stems wires, not shown, may be invention may be said to have for its object to soldered. The disk is fixed on a central hub 3 4O insure that when a coin is deposited in a coincarried by a metal sleeve d. The sleeve is shown controlled selective switch apparatus, only one as passing through a supporting bar 5 adapted new circuit can be closed by the switch during to be fixed within the coin box. A nut 6 screwed any movement thereof following the depositing upon the sleeve outwardly from the bar serves of a coin. to clamp the latter against the hub and thus In the usual coin-controlled device, wherein hold the disk stationary. Extending through 45 the coin momentarily closes a circuit, there is the sleeve is a short shaft shown as being propractically no variation in the time during which vided at its forward end with a finger 53 by the circuit remains closed during any one of an means of which it may he operated. 0n the inindefinite number of closures. Therefore, if a ner end or" the shaft behind the disk is a thick selective switch, associated with the coin-concollar 9 fixed to and projecting from one side trolled switch, is so constructed that when it is of a thin slab it of insulating material, near one shifted from any given position, it cannot close end of the latter, which serves as the movable a circuit in any other position until a lapse of arm for the switch. The member H3 is held in time almost as great as that during which the place and also reenforced by a metal plate ii 55 coin-controlled switch remains closed, it will not lying flat against the rear side thereof and fixed 55 distribution to the contact pieces 2.

to the part 9, conveniently by having the rear end of the part 9 extend through the plate and being riveted over.

The movable contact element is in the form of a pin or plunger I2 extending through the free end of the arm III at right angles to the latter and to the disk; the distance of the element I2 from the axis of the switch corresponding to the radius of the circle in which the stationary contact pieces are arranged. The contact element I2 is slidable lengthwise in its support, but is normally held in its forward or working position by a coil spring I4 surrounding the same and bearing at one end against the rear face of a head I5 on the front end of the element; the rear end of the spring bearing against a bushing or sleeve I6 fixed in the switch arm and constituting the actual bearing for the contact element.

n the rear side of the disk I is a metal disk I1, smaller in diameter than the disk I, so as to lie wholly within the circle of contact pieces 2. This metal disk contains a series of frusto-conical holes I8 corresponding in number and in angular On the switch arm is a suitable dog device adaptedto engage in the frusto-conical seats or depressions I8, one after another, as the switch arm is turned; this device yieldingly locking the switch is in any working position into which it may be brought. In the arrangement shown, the dog comprises a metal cup-shaped member I9 lying on the front side of the switch arm with its open end directed forwardly and having at its rear end a neck or stem portion extending through and riveted to the switch arm; a ball 20 arranged in and projecting from the open end of the member I9; and a compression spring 2I within the cup-shaped member and behind the ball.

Having only the parts heretofore specifically described, a turning of the switch arm, no matter how rapid, would permit the head I on the movable contact element to engage any desired number of the stationary contact pieces in succession. In order to prevent this when the movement is so rapid that the movable contact element can pass two or more stationary contact pieces during the amount of time that usually elapses between the closing and the opening of a circuit by a coin deposited in a coin slot, I have provided the means which I shall now describe. Lying behind and approximately parallel to the switch arm is a long lever 23 which is approximately as long as the diameter of the disk, so as to project far beyond the inner end of the switch arm. The lever has a hole therethrough at one end, and the contact pin I2 extends loosely through this hole; the pin having thereon a washer 24 bearing against the rear side of the lever and held in place by a cotter pin 25. The lever is provided-with a second hole 26 on the same side of the axis of the switch as contact element I2. A pin or projection 21, fixed to the switch arm, extends loosely through this hole 26 and has thereon, behind the lever, a washer 23 held in place by a cotter pin 23. On the free end of the lever is a comparatively heavy weight 30.

The yieldable dog device for holding the switch arm in its various positions lies between the pin 21 and the contact element I2. In addition to the parts heretofore described, the locking dog is provided with a loose pin 3I arranged axially thereof behind and in contact with the ball and extending through the rear end of the cupshaped part I9 into engagement with the lever 23.

Normally the parts of the device are as shown in Fig. 1 and in full lines in Fig. 2, the ball 20 resting in one of the seats or depressions I8, and the contact element I2 resting on one of the stationary contact pieces 2. Upon turning the shaft I, the ball 20 is forced upwardly out of the seat or depression which it previously occupied, and is compelled to ride upon the flat surface of the metal disk I]. As the ball is lifted out of its seat in the disk II, it forces the pin 3I rearwardly against the lever 23. The washer 28 on the pin 21 prevents the lever from moving bodily in the rearward direction, and therefore the lever must rock about the cotter pin 29 as a fulcrum, the end to which the contact pin I2 is connected being forced away from the switch arm and drawing the head I5 of the contact element away from the plane of the stationary contact pieces, as shown in Fig. 3. When the movable contact element comes into registration with the next stationary contact piece, the ball again drops into a seat or depression and the spring I4 can then exert a pressure on the end I5 of the movable contact element, tending to force that element into engagement with the stationary contact piece with which it registers.

During ordinary operation of the switch, the spring I4 is able to close the switch before the operator or customer is likely to shift the switch arm past any working position into which it has just been brought. However, if it is attempted to turn the switch arm so rapidly that it will move through at least one working position and into the next working position before the switch actuated by a coin can open after having been closed 1' by the insertion of a coin, the inertia of the weight or mass 30 serves to oppose the spring I4, and the action of the latter is slowed down to such an extent that no contact will be made as the switch arm is travelling past the first working position. In other words, if the operator or customer tries to turn the switch arm at an excessively high speed, in the hope of getting the benefit of more than one selection upon depositing a single coin, he will not succeed in his purpose.

No wiring has been shown, although the metal disk I! may, serve as a common terminal adapted to be connected to all of the stationary contact pieces. In order to provide a good conductive path for the current from the contact element I2 to the disk I1, I connect the bushing I6 and the cup-shaped member I9 of the locking dog together by means of a jumper 32. Current may thus fiow from a contact-piece 2 through the element I2, the jumper 32, member I9, spring H and ball 20 to the disk Il, whenever the selective switch is closed, as in Fig. 1.

While I have illustrated and described with particularity only a single preferred form of my invention, I do not desire to be limited to the exact structural details thus illustrated and described; but intend to cover all forms and arrangements which come within the definitions of my invention constituting the appended claims.

I claim:

1. The combination with a series of spaced contact pieces arranged in the arc of a'circle, an arm adapted to swing about the center of said circle, and a contact element carried by said arm in position to 'ride over said contact pieces one at a time upon swinging the arm: of a spring tending to press said contact element against any contact piece underlying the same, means acting in opposition to said spring to raise said element and keep it raised while it is moving from one contact piece to the next, said means including a rocking lever mounted on the arm and connected at one end with said contact element and having a counterweight at the other end.

2. The combination with a series of spaced contact pieces arranged in the are 01' a circle,

"*an arm adapted to swing about the center of said circle, and a contct element carried by said arm in position to ride over said contact pieces one at a time upon swinging the arm: of a mounting for said contact element on the arm to permit it to be shifted from and toward the plane oi the contact pieces, a spring acting on said element to move it toward the contact pieces, a lever mounted on said arm for rocking movements, one end 01 the lever being connected to said element, a

weight on the other end of the lever, and means to shift said element away from said plane while it is travelling with the. arm from one contact piece to the next.

3. The combination with a series of spaced contact pieces arranged in the arc of a circle, an arm adapted to swing about the center of said circle, and a contact element carried by said arm in position to ride over said contact pieces one at a time upon swinging the arm: of a mounting for said contact element on the arm to permit it'to be shifted from and toward the plane of the contact pieces, a spring acting on said element to move it toward the contact pieces, a lever mounted on said arm for rocking movements, one end of the lever being connected to said element, a weight on the other end of the lever, a yieldable dog mounted on said arm, an arc-shaped track over which said dog rides during swinging movements oi. the arm, said track being shaped to interlock with the dog whenever said contact element registers with a contact piece and yieldingly hold the am against swinging movements and to raise the catch and hold it raised while the contact element is travelling from one contact piece to the next, and a part on said dog to actuate the lever and shift said contact element away from the said plane whenever the dog is raised.

4. The combination with a series of spaced contact pieces arranged in the arc of a circle, an arm adapted to swing about the center or said circle, and a contact element carried by said arm in position to ride over said contact pieces one at a time upon swinging the arm: of a mounting for said contact element on the arm to permit it to move lengthwise from and toward the plane of the contact pieces, a spring acting on said elementto move it toward the contact pieces, a lever mounted on and approximately parallel to said arm for rocking movements, one end of the lever being connected to said element, a weight on the other end of the lever, a dog including a member slidably mounted in said arm parallel to said contact element and engaged with the under side of said lever, an arc-shaped track over which said dog rides during swinging movements of said arm, said track having depressions corresponding in angular positions to said contact pieces and into one of which said dog drops whenever said contact element rests on one of said contact pieces.

5. The combination with a series of spaced contact pieces arranged in the arc of a circle, an

arm extending radially of and adapted to swing about the center of said circle, and a contact element carried by the free end of said arm in position to ride over said contact pieces one at a time upon swinging the arm: of a mounting for said contact element on the arm to permit it to move lengthwise from and toward the plane of the contact pieces, a spring acting on said element to move it toward the contact pieces, a lever about twice as long as the arm mounted on and approximately parallel to the latter for rocking movements, one end of the lever being connected to said element about an axis between the ends of and transverse to the axis of rotation of the arm. a weight on the other end of the lever, a dog including a member slidably mounted in said arm parallel to said contact element and engaged with the underside of said lever, an arc-shaped track over which said dog rides during swinging movements of said arm, said track having depressions corresponding in angular positions to said contact pieces and into one of which said dog drops whenever said contact element rests on one of said contact pieces.

EARL-E G. HENRY. 

